Improvement in candles



UNITED STATES ATENT Prion.

IMPROVEMENT IN CANDLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 120,105, dated October 17, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itfknown that I, HENRY RYDER, of New Bedford, inthe county oi' Bristol Vand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Candles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionl thereof,'which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, refi candle. Figs. 2 and 3 are detailV views of opposite sides of the wick.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to a new manner of arranging wicks in candles, with the object oi' enlarging the lame'and utilizing to the fullest eX- tent the combustible material of the candle. The invention consists in so applying two or more braided wicks to one candle that, without the aid of other devices or substances, their burning ends will turn away from each other.

In braided iiat wicks A A the opposite faces differ from each other by having the strands a c on one side converge downwardly, as in Fig. 2, while on the opposite side they converge toward the upper end, as in Fig. 3. When one end of such a wick is ignited, the same will be bent to one side, i. e., to that on which the strands converge upwardly toward the flame. This bending is eli'ected by the position of the strands, for, when the same are burnt where they meet on top, their upper ends are liberated, and will bend under the inuence of the heat, while on the other side, where the strands converge downwardly, they are always held at and braced by the lower junctions. The heat tends-to twist and curve the burning wick, whose strands, when it becomes disintegrated on one side, will, on just that side, bend in a direction where they are unopposed, and draw the entire burning portion of the wick to the same side. Thus when a candie, A, carrying two wicks, a a, as in Fig. 1, is so constructed that those sides of wicks where the strands converge upwardly are on the outer sides, the burning ends of such wicks will both be bent or curved outwardly, as indicated in the drawing. The flame is thereby enlarged, and the consumption of oxygen consequently increased, so that the quality of light is also improved.

The candle may be of suitable shape, size, and material. More than two wicks may be arranged in one candle, and all so placed that the contracting side will-be the outer.

I ain aware that sin gle-braided wicks are old in their application to candles, and that the ei'- fect of turning the wick outwardly thereby is equally well known; and I am also aware that it is an old device to wind spirally a cord about the wick, to more efi'ectually produce the desired turn but I disclaim all of these.

What I desire to protect by Letters Patent, 1s-

The combination, in one candle, of two or more common braided wicks, arranged with relation to each other as described, so that, while burning, they will spread outwardly in opposite directions, and thereby produce a broader and more uniform flame, and give a maximum of light from a given weight of material.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 8th day of September, 1870.

HENRY RYDER.

Witnesses GEO. W. MABEE, 

